New video shows Guardian editors destroying Snowden hard drives

1/31/14 1:14 PM EST

Journalists at the Guardian said Friday that they have destroyed the hard drives used to store documents leaked by Edward Snowden, following a threat of injunction from the British government.

The "bizarre episode," which took place in the basement of the Guardian's London headquarters, is featured in a video that was released Friday. In it, the Guardian journalists can be seen taking "angle-grinders and drills to the internal components, rendering them useless and the information on them obliterated."

Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger has been involved in months-long negotiations with the British government over the Snowden leaks. Jeremy Heywood, the cabinet secretary, threatened legal action against the Guardian if it did not turn over the documents.

"We can do this nicely or we can go to law," he told Rusbridger, according to the Guardian's report. "A lot of people in government think you should be closed down."